Janet McDonald The Original Project Girl

"Much has been written about the state of black adolescence - often from a sociological point of view situating black teens in an at-risk category. However, through her characters, young adult author Janet McDonald (1954-2007) presents the wide range of adolescent life. McDonald presents the multifarious views of society in relation to the self efficacious drive of urban teens to rise above their circumstances by any means necessary." "This book is a biocritical study of McDonald and her work as it relates to the contribution she has made to teen fiction. It explains McDonald's profoundly realistic fiction, which holds wide appeal for teens in search of answers to the coming of age mystery."--BOOK JACKET.

Catherine Ross-Stroud is assistant professor of language arts and literacy at Cleveland State University.